Excerpt: "Professor Steven Salaita reached a US$875,000 statement with
University of Illinois after it fired him in 2014 for tweets critical of
Israel and pro-Gaza."
Professor Steven Salaita at University of Illinois. (photo: Chicago Tribune)
Professor Fired for Criticizing Israeli War Crimes on Twitter Wins
Settlement From University
By teleSUR
13 November 15
Professor Steven Salaita reached a US$875,000 statement with University of
Illinois after it fired him in 2014 for tweets critical of Israel and
pro-Gaza.
A settlement has been reached in Professor Steven Salaita's case against the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for firing him from his tenured
position over his personal tweets criticizing the Israeli government's
assault on Gaza in 2014.
"This settlement is a vindication for me, but more importantly, it is a
victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment," said Professor
Salaita. "The petitions, demonstrations, and investigations, as well as the
legal case, have reinvigorated American higher education as a place of
critical thinking and rigorous debate, and I am deeply grateful to all who
have spoken out."
The news was announced in a press release by the Center for Constitutional
Rights and co-counsel Loevy & Loevy.
Professor Salaita sued the university, the university Board of Trustees and
high-level administrators for violating his First Amendment right to free
speech and for breach of contract. In exchange for Professor Salaita's
agreement drop the case, the university has agreed to pay US$875,000.
Shortly after he signed his contract with the university in July 2014,
Salaita sent out several tweets about the Israeli operation against the
Palestinian people in the Gaza strip, which killed more than 500 children.
The university then terminated his contract.
His termination prompted several organizations and hundreds of academics in
the U.S. to denounce the university's actions. There were student walkouts,
cancellations of more than three dozen scheduled talks and conferences at
the school, further pledges to boycott the university by more than 5,000
academics and a vote of no confidence in the university administration by 16
of its academic departments.
The university tried to dismiss the allegations against it by saying that
Salaita had not been hired despite a contract and his impending family move
to the university.
However, in August, a federal judge rejected the university's argument
writing, "If the Court accepts the university's argument, the entire
American academic hiring process as it now operates would cease to exist."
Within hours of the court's decision, Chancellor Phyllis Wise, who sent
Professor Salaita the letter notifying him of his termination a year prior,
resigned from the university.
Documents and emails disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act showed
that the administrators had been using personal email accounts and deleting
their messgaes ones sent in order to avoid publicly releasing their
correspondence.
It was also revealed that wealthy university donors had threatened to
withhold funding unless Professor Salaita was terminated.
"Make no mistake: the size of this settlement is an implicit admission of
the strength of Professor Salaita's constitutional and contractual claims,"
Anand Swaminathan of Loevy & Loevy was quoted as saying in the press release
Thursday.
"He has scored a major victory for those who care about free speech and
academic freedom. In the future, university administrators will have to
think twice before they choose the interests of wealthy donors and alumni
over upholding their constitutional obligations."
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Professor Steven Salaita at University of Illinois. (photo: Chicago Tribune)
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Professor-Fired-for-Gaza-Tweets-Wins-S
ettlement-from-University-20151112-0018.htmlhttp://www.telesurtv.net/english
/news/Professor-Fired-for-Gaza-Tweets-Wins-Settlement-from-University-201511
12-0018.html
Professor Fired for Criticizing Israeli War Crimes on Twitter Wins
Settlement From University
By teleSUR
13 November 15
Professor Steven Salaita reached a US$875,000 statement with University of
Illinois after it fired him in 2014 for tweets critical of Israel and
pro-Gaza.
settlement has been reached in Professor Steven Salaita's case against the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for firing him from his tenured
position over his personal tweets criticizing the Israeli government's
assault on Gaza in 2014.
"This settlement is a vindication for me, but more importantly, it is a
victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment," said Professor
Salaita. "The petitions, demonstrations, and investigations, as well as the
legal case, have reinvigorated American higher education as a place of
critical thinking and rigorous debate, and I am deeply grateful to all who
have spoken out."
The news was announced in a press release by the Center for Constitutional
Rights and co-counsel Loevy & Loevy.
Professor Salaita sued the university, the university Board of Trustees and
high-level administrators for violating his First Amendment right to free
speech and for breach of contract. In exchange for Professor Salaita's
agreement drop the case, the university has agreed to pay US$875,000.
Shortly after he signed his contract with the university in July 2014,
Salaita sent out several tweets about the Israeli operation against the
Palestinian people in the Gaza strip, which killed more than 500 children.
The university then terminated his contract.
His termination prompted several organizations and hundreds of academics in
the U.S. to denounce the university's actions. There were student walkouts,
cancellations of more than three dozen scheduled talks and conferences at
the school, further pledges to boycott the university by more than 5,000
academics and a vote of no confidence in the university administration by 16
of its academic departments.
The university tried to dismiss the allegations against it by saying that
Salaita had not been hired despite a contract and his impending family move
to the university.
However, in August, a federal judge rejected the university's argument
writing, "If the Court accepts the university's argument, the entire
American academic hiring process as it now operates would cease to exist."
Within hours of the court's decision, Chancellor Phyllis Wise, who sent
Professor Salaita the letter notifying him of his termination a year prior,
resigned from the university.
Documents and emails disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act showed
that the administrators had been using personal email accounts and deleting
their messgaes ones sent in order to avoid publicly releasing their
correspondence.
It was also revealed that wealthy university donors had threatened to
withhold funding unless Professor Salaita was terminated.
"Make no mistake: the size of this settlement is an implicit admission of
the strength of Professor Salaita's constitutional and contractual claims,"
Anand Swaminathan of Loevy & Loevy was quoted as saying in the press release
Thursday.
"He has scored a major victory for those who care about free speech and
academic freedom. In the future, university administrators will have to
think twice before they choose the interests of wealthy donors and alumni
over upholding their constitutional obligations."
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